the running reverend

Earlier this evening I received a tweet with a link to the Mashable article “13 Tech Companies and Products That Went Under in 2011.” 

Curiosity aroused, I clicked the link interested to view the carnage that was about to unfold before me. Not surprisingly, Qwikster and the HP Touchpad were among the wreckage.

I was shocked, however, to see that almost a quarter of the list (3 of the 13 companies/products) belonged to the same company — Google. 

I found it shocking because Google is a success. And as a success they have (at least what seems to be) unlimited resources at their disposal to ensure their success.

People resources — they have them.

Financial resources — they have them.

Ideas — there is no shortage.

A finely tuned system that can sort through the ideas to identify the good from the bad — it’s in place.

Yet, for all of their resources, Google had three notable failures this year.

In the wake of these failures they’ve admitted their mistakes, issued apologies to early adopters who will be impacted, and have moved on to new endeavors.

They haven’t continued to pour money into these projects in the vain hope that they might inject life.

They haven’t pandered to those who tried Google Buzz, Video, or Labs but weren’t all that enthused in the vain hope that they might lure them back.

They tried. They failed. And they moved on.

In thinking about Google and their three notable losses, I find myself encouraged. I have far fewer resources than Google. Most of the endeavors that I will undertake (whether personally or ministerially) will not have the brainpower, (hu)manpower, etc. that Google’s failures have enjoyed.

So what, you ask? Why does that knowledge leave you encouraged?

I’m encouraged because my failures (and the failures of the church) won’t be as costly.

So I write a book and it only sells forty copies? I’ve lost some time (but in the process I’ve gained some sanity).

So I write reseach proposal after research proposal, without having one approved (as of yet)? I’ve lost some time (but I’ve learned a lot about the process of proposal writing, as well as some ways in which I need to refine my writing skills).

So we, as a church, try a Saturday evening service and end up shutting it down after six months? I lost six months of Saturday evenings and we had to run the air-conditioning for six months of Saturdays (but at the end of six months we have some very valuable information about the “value” of Saturday evenings to the residents of our community.

The point is: We cannot allow our past failure or current potential for failure to keep us from trying something new. If we fail, we learn. If we learn, we are better equipped to try something new.